Yeah, exactly why I had to preface it with being well-received. Breaking down other people's psychology takes time and determination, but I've been places where it's worked, and worked well.
But to the larger point--if the place is completely change-averse anyway, it's probably not a good place to be.
Alternatively, if he likes the place, it's an opportunity to step up and say "here's how we can do things better." If it's well-received, it's an opportunity to show both expertise and leadership.
Maybe so, but you're forgetting that there are countless, poorly-paid Americans handling sensitive data on a daily basis that have just as much incentive to steal it... and do.
I largely agree with what was said... you definitely gain the most from struggling through problems on your own. Doing examples where the solutions are provided don't help much beyond giving you some references.
I will say, though, that the problems you do don't need to be personal pet projects. It's fine to learn through doing assignments from books, etc., just so long as you have to solve it yourself--the answers aren't supplied for you.
At least UF makes some mention of consideration for this in financial aid.
I suspect the schools think they can save money buy not having to create/maintain the labs, even if more financial aid has to go out. And I'm sure they'll get some nice kickbacks for pushing something like Dell on the students.
True, but... If you're ripping enough CDs for this to be a problem, going by these services prices, it'd still be much cheaper to just buy a cheap, sacrificial cdrom drive and beat on that. Even for the laptop, you could find an external cdrom drive that would be cheaper. I'll agree with time arguments, but economically, it's not a great deal.
Most of that is probably legitimate, happening before it leaves the manufacturer's/distributor's warehouse. Manufacturers sometimes shift around codes between original packaging and shipping. But who knows...
Around the holidays, too, it gets crazy and cashiers want to get people through as quickly as possible, so it's probably easier in that respect. They'll notice things less, especially if slipped in with several other purchases. But on something so high profile as an iPod, I'm surprised that didn't raise a red flag. Especially at that price difference. The cashier may not know how much they cost, but I imagine most know they're more than five bucks =). A smaller discount like $30 might have slipped under the radar.
This won't work because one of the main things UPC allows (besides fast registering) is the ability to change prices without retagging packages. Want to drop laundry detergent ten cents, do it in the database, not on the box. Faster, cheaper, easier.
Yeah... college was more difficult than high school. Go figure.
He almost made some good points, but went back to whining for a bit.
I've seen a lot of cases where professors have little interest in actually teaching, and all of their efforts go into their research projects. It's good for them becuase it gets them kudos and maybe tenure, and the schools love the grant money.
That's a legitimate problem I have seen, but it spans well outside of engineering.
digital cable continue to be examples of consumers choosing wiz-bang technology simply because it's new and not because it's better
they all lap it up because of all the stations they can't get otherwise
Ignoring the contradiction from the first part, from what I've seen your second diagnosis is the most common motivator for getting digital cable: channel volume and selection. And sure, maybe it's not seeing the whole picture of what is available, but it's a perfectly valid reason to get it. And in a lot of places it's not much more expensive than standard cable with far fewer channels.
Granted, regular cable services have been priced up to ridiculous levels, probably to get people to make that jump.
Can't find bin Laden, or choosing not to? It almost seems feasible that they're specifically leaving him out there, because that cloud of terrorist threat is the strength they have. Fear fear fear.
Do I believe that's the case? I dunno, but I wouldn't put it past them.
I can appreciate how much everyone else pays for gas outside of the U.S., but it's a different situation over here than in a lot of places in Europe.
For one, the U.S. is as big as western Europe. So we have to travel longer distances for a lot of things. Plus, our national passenger train system is, being generous, poor. It's slow and more expensive than flying. Mass transit in all but the largest cities is also very poor. Probably all consequences of always having cheaply available gas. Everyone could afford to have cars and drive around.
I hope one good thing that comes out of the rising fuel prices is establishment of better transit systems here.
I agree that there is a lot of paranoia about nuclear power. But it's somewhat understandable given some high profile accidents.
From what I understand there are several proven, new models for reactors that would not result in the sorts of problems we saw at Chernobyl and TMI, but isn't there still the issue of storing the spent fuel? It might be a problem that can be dealt with, but it seems like a legitimate concern. Sounds like we're already doing a poor job of handling that now.
Exactly. There are a lot of games like Katamari Damacy, the Nippon Ichi tactical games, several RPGs, etc., which have dated graphics, but have been very successful because they are interesting or fun or whatever.
But when you have a monumental franchise like Zelda, people have their own expectations what the game is going to be like. Meeting those is difficult no matter how you approach it.
I don't think most customers care about market economics. They want the coolest game system. We'll see what ends up being 'coolest' in the consumer eye. This round of consoles should show us a lot about what people are going to spend their money on.
I like a lot of what Nintendo tries to do, but they certainly lost in the last round. I think this is a golden opportunity for them, though. PS2 and XBOX are loaded down with crappy rehashes and sequels lately (see: sports games) and expect to see more with the next launch. Some good, innovative, and most importantly, FUN, titles could really help Nintendo out. I only worry they'll be too late into the game to leave their stamp.
I'll admit that there's a lot of stuff on consoles now that appeal to the base instincts of sex and violence, but there's enough other stuff out there to satisfy me.
Most sports games aren't over-the-top on violence, and really do focus on the game itself. I still enjoy playing SSX3 and NCAA football on occasion. There are plenty of all-ages platformer/adventurer games that don't go for any of that indulgent stuff too.
But I do have the Megaman Collection and love going back to play 2, which for all the sequels, I think is still the best.
I'll agree with one of the other commenters. Sure, there's a lot of crap out there, but there are some gems too. And that's just about how it's always been. Sometimes there are brief waves where lots of good stuff makes it to the popular front, but by and large, by nature, pop culture is cookie cutter fad stuff.
But there are a lot of good musicians out there in all genres, but you gotta do a little work sometimes, or at least look somewhere other than corporate radio. Smaller labels like Desoto, SST, IRS, Epitaph have been punching out a lot of good stuff over the years. I've found a lot of really good local music that I'd never hear on the radio, but I can go see at a bar on a given weekend. It just takes a little exploring to find good stuff sometimes.
Same with movies (and I've seen a lot of really good import stuff lately). You might not find something great at Muvico or Regal or whatever, but check smaller theatres or rentals, and you can find stuff.
Games are a little tricky right now because it's hard to get one made without a humongous budget, so the rule is for mass appeal to recoup expenses. But we still see innovative games coming out (I'll use everyone's favorite example, Katamari Damacy). And it wasn't many years ago that some of my favorite games were made (i.e., Fallout series, etc.).
So sure, there's a lot of crap out there, but don't damn everything from this generation. There's plenty of good stuff to go around, just take the time to find it.
People make jokes and attacks to get responses and mod points, but you show a good example of where this might be useful.
Like most drugs, this one (providing it works) sounds like it has some good places where it might prove helpful to people, but also runs the risk of being misused and abused.
I don't have insomnia or anything quite so severe, but I have sleep issues as well. I can empathize. There are times that a little help could go a long way.
Yeah, the FCAT has led to some really awful consequences. I don't have any children yet, but my coworkers do, and I hear the horror stories. One has a son in the second or third grade, and they've eliminated recess altogether. He's been fighting with the teachers, principals, school board, everyone about it.
And he's right when says that if you don't let them go and burn off all that excess energy, they won't be able to concentrate in class as much. Not to mention all of the issues with promoting a healthy, active life.
Which society? For better or for worse, in the U.S. (and I presume most other wealthy nations), computers are part of many, many jobs, even if they don't really need to be. Hell, most new cash registers now have that kind of complexity.
I think it's good to give people the minimum skills needed in a lot of places. Even if that's just keyboarding, opening/saving/moving files around, whatever. But more detailed things should fall under elective classes. There are other important things to learn. Many of my adult friends cannot spell to save their lives, and if I started talking about the War of 1812, would have no idea what I was talking about.
You must have grown up in an entirely different world than I.
1. Fact is, the number of jobs that require (or even desire remotely) keyboarding and application skills outnumber those that require programming skills by a monstrous factor. Most people I know never want to learn to program... and never will have any compelling reason to.
2. Programming logo and basic was common in your elementary and middle schools? If so, lucky you. That didn't exist anywhere around me, and no one I know from other places had that luxury. I don't think it was all that common.
3. I think C++ can be a very useful tool. It can be misused, but what can't? I'm with you on Java, so far though.
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah, exactly why I had to preface it with being well-received. Breaking down other people's psychology takes time and determination, but I've been places where it's worked, and worked well.
But to the larger point--if the place is completely change-averse anyway, it's probably not a good place to be.
Right. But dear god, with fewer buzz words.
Alternatively, if he likes the place, it's an opportunity to step up and say "here's how we can do things better." If it's well-received, it's an opportunity to show both expertise and leadership.
Maybe so, but you're forgetting that there are countless, poorly-paid Americans handling sensitive data on a daily basis that have just as much incentive to steal it... and do.
I largely agree with what was said... you definitely gain the most from struggling through problems on your own. Doing examples where the solutions are provided don't help much beyond giving you some references.
I will say, though, that the problems you do don't need to be personal pet projects. It's fine to learn through doing assignments from books, etc., just so long as you have to solve it yourself--the answers aren't supplied for you.
I know that this is the trend in my state's public universities.
4 -04.html
Here at FSU, I think the enforced policy goes into effect this fall, and I think something similar is happening at UF.
http://www.fsu.edu/~trustees/meeting/minutes/09-2
http://www.circa.ufl.edu/computers/
At least UF makes some mention of consideration for this in financial aid.
I suspect the schools think they can save money buy not having to create/maintain the labs, even if more financial aid has to go out. And I'm sure they'll get some nice kickbacks for pushing something like Dell on the students.
True, but...
If you're ripping enough CDs for this to be a problem, going by these services prices, it'd still be much cheaper to just buy a cheap, sacrificial cdrom drive and beat on that. Even for the laptop, you could find an external cdrom drive that would be cheaper.
I'll agree with time arguments, but economically, it's not a great deal.
Most of that is probably legitimate, happening before it leaves the manufacturer's/distributor's warehouse. Manufacturers sometimes shift around codes between original packaging and shipping. But who knows...
Around the holidays, too, it gets crazy and cashiers want to get people through as quickly as possible, so it's probably easier in that respect. They'll notice things less, especially if slipped in with several other purchases. But on something so high profile as an iPod, I'm surprised that didn't raise a red flag. Especially at that price difference. The cashier may not know how much they cost, but I imagine most know they're more than five bucks =). A smaller discount like $30 might have slipped under the radar.
This won't work because one of the main things UPC allows (besides fast registering) is the ability to change prices without retagging packages. Want to drop laundry detergent ten cents, do it in the database, not on the box. Faster, cheaper, easier.
Yeah... college was more difficult than high school. Go figure.
He almost made some good points, but went back to whining for a bit.
I've seen a lot of cases where professors have little interest in actually teaching, and all of their efforts go into their research projects. It's good for them becuase it gets them kudos and maybe tenure, and the schools love the grant money.
That's a legitimate problem I have seen, but it spans well outside of engineering.
digital cable continue to be examples of consumers choosing wiz-bang technology simply because it's new and not because it's better
they all lap it up because of all the stations they can't get otherwise
Ignoring the contradiction from the first part, from what I've seen your second diagnosis is the most common motivator for getting digital cable: channel volume and selection. And sure, maybe it's not seeing the whole picture of what is available, but it's a perfectly valid reason to get it. And in a lot of places it's not much more expensive than standard cable with far fewer channels.
Granted, regular cable services have been priced up to ridiculous levels, probably to get people to make that jump.
Can't find bin Laden, or choosing not to? It almost seems feasible that they're specifically leaving him out there, because that cloud of terrorist threat is the strength they have. Fear fear fear.
Do I believe that's the case? I dunno, but I wouldn't put it past them.
Freedom fighters don't attack civilians.
I can appreciate how much everyone else pays for gas outside of the U.S., but it's a different situation over here than in a lot of places in Europe.
For one, the U.S. is as big as western Europe. So we have to travel longer distances for a lot of things. Plus, our national passenger train system is, being generous, poor. It's slow and more expensive than flying. Mass transit in all but the largest cities is also very poor. Probably all consequences of always having cheaply available gas. Everyone could afford to have cars and drive around.
I hope one good thing that comes out of the rising fuel prices is establishment of better transit systems here.
I agree that there is a lot of paranoia about nuclear power. But it's somewhat understandable given some high profile accidents.
From what I understand there are several proven, new models for reactors that would not result in the sorts of problems we saw at Chernobyl and TMI, but isn't there still the issue of storing the spent fuel? It might be a problem that can be dealt with, but it seems like a legitimate concern. Sounds like we're already doing a poor job of handling that now.
Exactly. There are a lot of games like Katamari Damacy, the Nippon Ichi tactical games, several RPGs, etc., which have dated graphics, but have been very successful because they are interesting or fun or whatever.
But when you have a monumental franchise like Zelda, people have their own expectations what the game is going to be like. Meeting those is difficult no matter how you approach it.
I don't think most customers care about market economics. They want the coolest game system. We'll see what ends up being 'coolest' in the consumer eye. This round of consoles should show us a lot about what people are going to spend their money on.
I like a lot of what Nintendo tries to do, but they certainly lost in the last round. I think this is a golden opportunity for them, though. PS2 and XBOX are loaded down with crappy rehashes and sequels lately (see: sports games) and expect to see more with the next launch. Some good, innovative, and most importantly, FUN, titles could really help Nintendo out. I only worry they'll be too late into the game to leave their stamp.
Not to mention the offshore platforms being out of commission, or in one case, blown ashore. Supply is going to be short. Costs are going to rocket.
Agreed. All I need to do is look at my stats for FreeCell to see where I've spent stupid amounts of time =).
That, and I loved that crazy Every Extend game that was out there a while back.
Delta Yowai!
I'll admit that there's a lot of stuff on consoles now that appeal to the base instincts of sex and violence, but there's enough other stuff out there to satisfy me.
Most sports games aren't over-the-top on violence, and really do focus on the game itself. I still enjoy playing SSX3 and NCAA football on occasion. There are plenty of all-ages platformer/adventurer games that don't go for any of that indulgent stuff too.
But I do have the Megaman Collection and love going back to play 2, which for all the sequels, I think is still the best.
I'll agree with one of the other commenters. Sure, there's a lot of crap out there, but there are some gems too. And that's just about how it's always been. Sometimes there are brief waves where lots of good stuff makes it to the popular front, but by and large, by nature, pop culture is cookie cutter fad stuff.
But there are a lot of good musicians out there in all genres, but you gotta do a little work sometimes, or at least look somewhere other than corporate radio. Smaller labels like Desoto, SST, IRS, Epitaph have been punching out a lot of good stuff over the years. I've found a lot of really good local music that I'd never hear on the radio, but I can go see at a bar on a given weekend. It just takes a little exploring to find good stuff sometimes.
Same with movies (and I've seen a lot of really good import stuff lately). You might not find something great at Muvico or Regal or whatever, but check smaller theatres or rentals, and you can find stuff.
Games are a little tricky right now because it's hard to get one made without a humongous budget, so the rule is for mass appeal to recoup expenses. But we still see innovative games coming out (I'll use everyone's favorite example, Katamari Damacy). And it wasn't many years ago that some of my favorite games were made (i.e., Fallout series, etc.).
So sure, there's a lot of crap out there, but don't damn everything from this generation. There's plenty of good stuff to go around, just take the time to find it.
People make jokes and attacks to get responses and mod points, but you show a good example of where this might be useful.
Like most drugs, this one (providing it works) sounds like it has some good places where it might prove helpful to people, but also runs the risk of being misused and abused.
I don't have insomnia or anything quite so severe, but I have sleep issues as well. I can empathize. There are times that a little help could go a long way.
Yeah, the FCAT has led to some really awful consequences. I don't have any children yet, but my coworkers do, and I hear the horror stories. One has a son in the second or third grade, and they've eliminated recess altogether. He's been fighting with the teachers, principals, school board, everyone about it.
And he's right when says that if you don't let them go and burn off all that excess energy, they won't be able to concentrate in class as much. Not to mention all of the issues with promoting a healthy, active life.
It's all about balance.
Which society? For better or for worse, in the U.S. (and I presume most other wealthy nations), computers are part of many, many jobs, even if they don't really need to be. Hell, most new cash registers now have that kind of complexity.
I think it's good to give people the minimum skills needed in a lot of places. Even if that's just keyboarding, opening/saving/moving files around, whatever. But more detailed things should fall under elective classes. There are other important things to learn. Many of my adult friends cannot spell to save their lives, and if I started talking about the War of 1812, would have no idea what I was talking about.
You must have grown up in an entirely different world than I. 1. Fact is, the number of jobs that require (or even desire remotely) keyboarding and application skills outnumber those that require programming skills by a monstrous factor. Most people I know never want to learn to program... and never will have any compelling reason to. 2. Programming logo and basic was common in your elementary and middle schools? If so, lucky you. That didn't exist anywhere around me, and no one I know from other places had that luxury. I don't think it was all that common. 3. I think C++ can be a very useful tool. It can be misused, but what can't? I'm with you on Java, so far though.